Jeri TaylorBesprekingen

This is Jeri Taylor showing us how she envisioned Janeway and it's a treat. A shame she was forced off the show and Janeway lost all her warmth and unique command style.

The two narrative stands of the book - Janeway's mission to rescue Tuvok's stranded away team from attack by the Kazon; Janeway's reminisces on her childhood, youthful romances and early Starfleet career - interweave, coming together at the climax in a rather forced way. The Kazon story is interesting, if uninspired; the memoir is interesting if you're a Trekkie who particularly likes Janeway. Given I'm the latter, I ended up enjoying the story more than what I've written so far would suggest.

The Kazon story being fairly standard fare, the main USP is Janeway's back story, and I'd rather have had a whole novel on that subject, as there were plenty of elements which could have been explored and expanded. Given that Taylor was one the main creators of Voyager, and had defined Janeway's character for the show, she does Kathryn justice in the book. I guess the Delta Quadrant itself was a character in the show, so at the time of publication, 1996, that setting would have been important to include.

I don't think it works on its own merits, that is, it wouldn't be a good jumping on point as you have to already care for and know something about the characters to feel invested, but as fan-service it's 3.5 🌟½

Read back in the summer of 1998. It was alright. It is a novelization of a television episode.

Fairly standard psychological drama à la [b:Gerald's Game|32692|Gerald's Game|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1297737756s/32692.jpg|4847031] et al: something bad is happening and only coming to terms with some terrible repressed memory can save the day.

The book's surprisingly dark at times for a Star Trek novel, but neither that nor the clunky cameos can save it from passable mediocrity.

Fairly standard psychological drama à la [b:Gerald's Game|32692|Gerald's Game|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1297737756s/32692.jpg|4847031] et al: something bad is happening and only coming to terms with some terrible repressed memory can save the day.

The book's surprisingly dark at times for a Star Trek novel, but neither that nor the clunky cameos can save it from passable mediocrity.

Jeri Taylor offers exactly what a novelization of a TNG episode should; plenty of extra tidbits that add layers to what's realized onscreen, new material so as not to bore repeat tv viewers and a few fixes to flaws in the aired product.

Taylor enhances the story with the occasional theme of estranged fathers and sons, showcasing it through Riker, Picard, and Spock, linking them all in the narrative in a way that the televised episode doesn't. The final mind-meld, somewhat anticlimactic on television screens breathes a new life on paper, with a Taylor bringing home the emotional meaning of the story's title, Sarek, and Spock, at last, finding some unification through Picard.

The novelization substantially helps the side plot of Riker's investigation into the Vulcan hardware and helps it make a little more sense. Taylor adds some parts to broaden the investigation, for example, Riker helps interrogates the person responsible for helping to hide the what is going on at the shipyard (the captain of the mystery ship that exploded was romancing one of the low-level clerks who registered the junk ships at the yard).

There is also a secondary character introduced in the novel Ensign Naylor who adds something extra for those might be bored by just reading a straight adaption of the onscreen adventure. She starts off as a romantic possibility for Riker but is given something of a sad quality near the novel's end and more depth than just another fling for the First Officer.

Taylor livens things up at the end, something the aired product could have used, with some action involving Spock, Picard, and Data escaping the Romulans (they don't just casually walk out of the office like onscreen) and the Enterprise actually purses the Vulcan ships to the neutral zone.

Fans of the episode won't be disappointed.

It was a good read but it could have been better. I felt the strength of the various stories really varied. I really like Chakotay, Neelix, Kes and Tuvok's stories, but B'lanna's and Toms were pretty bad. I actually skipped chunks of Tom's story because it was boring. And I found it completely implausible that B'lanna was going on at length about what it is was like to go through puberty and having a crush on Chakotay, in front of Chakotay and a bunch of her male co-workers. Hearing about their times in the Maquis was cool, but overall I was little disappointed with this one. I felt the Janeway book, Mosaics was better.

Pathways is a well-written story that expands upon the background of the major characters. Some are well known through the tv series, but others brought some welcome stories. The stories are told in the context of the character's imprisonment on an alien planet.

I read some of the other reviews and I'm not sure we read the same book! I didn't notice much sex (except for fantasies of the Klingon captain), and the little bit of the Vulcans I saw did not make them out to be boring. As far as the writing, ok, it wasn't Joyce or Vonnegut, but then, it wasn't supposed to be. This was a fun read with some interesting ideas, characters, & twists. I'd say 3.5 stars because I'm still confused about Pardek, but I'm rounding up so you don't cull this book without reading it.

BOTTOM-LINE:
Decent views of the various backstories
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PLOT OR PREMISE:
The Voyager crew are separated from the ship and captured by an alien race. The crew are placed in a prison camp full of various races. While awaiting rescue by Captain Janeway, the members tell stories from their pasts to each other at night to help pass the time.
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WHAT I LIKED:
Chakotay's tale is of his rejection of his tribe's ways and embracing the Starfleet ideals, and then joining the Maquis to chase the Cardassians. Harry Kim's focuses on his privileged upbringing, discovering Starfleet hikers, meeting Boothbie, and his rough adjustment at the Academy. Kes' tale is a bit odd, seems off from her character on the show, but covers her short life before meeting Neelix (told through some sort of psychic link with her essence that has already left Voyager) including pushing the Elders to reveal the history of the Caretaker and her decision to explore the surface. Tuvok's backstory includes his double career with Starfleet, namely first joining Starfleet as a young man, and then leaving Starfleet, returning home to raise a family, having a spiritual quest in the desert, and deciding to rejoin Starfleet, reviewing Janeway's first mission as part of his duties, and then being posted to her ship only to butt heads repeatedly with her over her impulsive nature.
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
I wasn't totally comfortable with B'Elanna's story about never being part of the life of either Klingons or humans, her decision to leave Starfleet Academy and work on a freighter, and meeting Chakotay and Paris in the Maquis. It seems at odds with her very Klingon personality at the start of Voyager, as if she didn't have much experience with humans. Yet the backstory talks about even her first serious boyfriend having been human. Paris' story doesn't reveal much, it's mostly rehash of excerpts from other episodes -- his relationship with his Admiral father, joining Starfleet and starting a ski team, an chance to be the pilot for the Enterprise, an accident with his flight team (similar to the character he played on TNG episode with Wesley Crusher), his joining the Maquis, his imprisonment for firing on a Starfleet ship to protect the Maquis, and finally joining Voyager. Neelix's story probably had the most potential as being different and unique, i.e. growing up on a quiet planet on the edge of war and the loss of his family and trading partners, and then meeting Voyager's crew, but the story went nowhere.
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.

I had always wondered about the past of the crew of the Voyager. Who were they, where did they come from? How did they get on that ship together. I ran across this book in the library and immediately knew I wanted to read it.

I learned a lot of back-story which allowed me to appreciate the crew at a deeper level. When I watched the series or read other books, sometimes it was easier to see why they did/do what the did/do.

Voyager fans may or may not appreciate this one, but as for me, it is one of my favorites.½

Sometimes I roll my eyes at myself.

Sometimes I roll my eyes at myself.